Three Farewells
by StarnightX
Summary: Nyoko, a kunochi with no village, meets Hatake Kakashi. Nyoko isn't who Kakashi thinks she is and Kakashi isn't who Nyoko thinks he is. What will happen when the truth comes out? KakashixOC, special Akatsuki appearances. Rated T b/c of language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've been wanting to post this since forever! This is an idea I had a LONG time ago, but I never gotten around to writing it. I was reluctant in posting it, because I'm not sure if the plot I have in mind for this story will work. Keeping my fingers crossed though!**

**I'll warn ya ahead of time, this story may get a bit confusing, because there are many name changes. So here are the list of characters and the fake names they go by:**

**Kakashi - Kuwa (The name he goes by in the ANBU. He's 18 in this fic.)**

**Nyoko - Akari (This is the fake name that Kakashi knows her by. She's 18 years old.)**

**Tenzo (He's really Yamato-taichou! Tenzo is the name he goes by in this fic. He's about 15 years old.)**

**That's all for that. Please leave me a review to let me know what you think. I hope you like the first chapter of Three Farewells.**

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

It was a happy town, a festive town. The people were happy and well protected by a specially gifted family. Everything was wonderful, everything was perfect. For one little girl this was her home. This was where she belonged and she had hoped to one day follow in her family's footsteps to help protect her small town. Until that fateful day when all the joy and prosperity disappeared in a flash, transforming the town into a dead wasteland. All was quiet and the air was heavy with the scent of blood. However, no soul could smell the metallic odor, except for one.

In the town square, usually a cheerful place, laid a young girl, her breathes shallow and her body weak. The young girl of five years had short dark purple, almost black, hair, which was unevenly cut. Her grey eyes were open half way; her hand reached out in front of her, as though searching for something to pull her out of the mess she was in. Upon her face was a look of desperation. Despite her young age, she knew she'd die here if she didn't move; she had to find someone to save her. Her tiny little body used as much energy as it could to move forward. Only moving an inch, she felt like she had no energy left to go on. The wound to her stomach really did a number on her and wasn't making things any easier. A red liquid began to slowly dribble from the corner of her mouth. Tired she closed her eyes and only one thought ran through her head. "Help me."

As if on cue, the small girl heard footsteps. Slowly, but surely, they grew louder and louder. She struggled to stay conscious. The stranger was a man of perhaps 20 or so years of age. He had shoulder length black hair and side swept bangs over the top of his cold coal eyes. He stopped in front of the girl and used their foot to see the child's face more clearly. Blood dribbled from her mouth; her face was pale beneath all the dirt and grime and had a bruise on her right eye. "Now, now, now…what do we have here?" Hearing the sound of the stranger's smooth voice, the girl guessed that this person was in fact a young man. The man examined silently a little longer, before removing his foot from her face. "Worthless." He muttered and the girl heard his footsteps again, but this time they were moving away from her.

Something grew inside the little girl, a strange feeling, a strong emotion… a strong will. It was a desire so strong; it was a desire to live. With this new found strength, she lifted her head and opened her eyes. "Wait!" She says, her voice hoarse, but the man continued to walk away from her. "Wait!" Her small voice shouted out, stronger this time. The man stopped and turned where he stood. A grin spread across his face. What a persistent little girl. He took his time walking back to the girl and crouched down, tilting her chin up with a slender finger to get a better look at her face. She stared back up at him, with her grey eyes full of desperation. The grin on his face only grew wider; she had the blood line limit. In each of her eyes was a black spider web-like pattern, Kumorigan.

He lifted the girl in his arms and began to walk away from the death filled town. The girl looks up at him, her rescuer, and whispers. "Who are you?"

"My name is Enmaru Yoru."

"Are you an angel?"

"No, I am your master now. I saved your life and so your life now belongs to me. If you listen to what I say, I'll take good care of you."

"Really?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Master…" The girl finally lost consciousness.

"Yes," Yoru said, looking down at the small child in his arms. "I am your master now."

**CHAPTER ONE**

**The First Farewell**

A rather old man with graying hair stood behind his bar, cleaning a mug with a rag. Although it was still daylight out, the inside of the bar was rather dim, probably because the blinds of the front windows were closed, allowing very little light to enter the musky place. The dimly lit room was accompanied by dingy pieces of furniture; a few old tables were set here and there along with just as old chairs. Two pool tables were in a corner of the bar and nothing could be heard except for the cleaning of the mug and the two ceiling fans above. The 40 year old man had become used to this silence and was a bit surprised when he heard bells, signaling that someone has entered his bar.

"Akari, you're rather earlier than usual. Did your date with Nakamura not go well?" He asked, expecting his only employee to be walking through the door, but when he looked instead he saw two members of ANBU. One had a fox mask, while the other had a cat mask. His brown eyes grew narrow. "Can I help you two gentlemen?"

"We're looking for some information," answered the one wearing the fox mask.

"That's a surprise," The old man said, sarcasm hinting in his voice.

"I suggest that you tell us what you know. As a citizen of fire country…" the one with the cat mask spoke, his voice slightly more cold.

The old man laughed. "You're new to this aren't you?" He referred to the one wearing the cat mask. "You didn't even ask me the information that you two seek."

Though his face was unseen, the man with the cat mask slightly blushed, realizing that he got caught up in the moment. The man in the fox mask put a hand on the other's shoulder. "Let me handle this Tenzo." Tenzo nodded and the ANBU with the fox mask took over the interrogation.

"Listen, we've gotten some leads that this town is a recruitment center," the fox masked man informed the bartender, his voice was slightly more cheerful than his companion's.

"A recruitment center?" The old man returned to cleaning his mug, smiling to himself. "I can't say I know much about that."

"Nonsense, you own a bar. I know for a fact you've picked up some information, by listening to customers' conversations," Tenzo butted in accusingly.

"Tenzo…" The ANBU with the fox masked looked over at him, a warning sort of tone in his voice.

"Sorry, Kuwa-senpai."

The old bartender smirked. "I may know something. Tell me, who is it that's running a recruitment center? That might jog my memory."

Tenzo looked at Kuwa, wondering if it was to divulge such information and was slightly surprised when Kuwa told the old man. "Sosei."

"Sosei? I'm not surprised it's them you're looking for. They haven't been lying low lately that's for sure."

"So you've heard of them?" Kuwa asked for confirmation.

"Of course, as your friend said before, I'm a bartender. I hear of all sorts of things. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm better informed than you two, members of Konoha's ANBU."

"What do you know about them?" Kuwa pushed for more information.

"Depends…what do you **want** to know about them? I don't want to waste your time telling you information you already know."

"What we know is classified information…"

"Then I guess I can't help you then. Don't take it personally, but by giving you information about Sosei I can lose some valuable customers…"

"So there **are** members of Sosei in this town!" shouted Tenzo and Kuwa motioned at him to quite down.

"Listen sir," Kuwa started. "If you don't give us the information we're looking for, we're liable to have you under…"

Kuwa was cut off when the front door slammed open. "AKIYO-SAN! I'M HERE!" All three men looked to see the new person who entered the bar. She was a fairly young, perhaps in her late teens. Most of her long dark purple hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her bangs brushed the tops of her gray eyes. She wore a very simple, and rather short, maid uniform. No doubt she was an employee of the bartender, whose name was apparently Akiyo. She saw the two ANBU members and her eyes grew wide. "I'm not late am I?"

"Akari! Good to see you early for work for once. How was your date with Nakamura?"

"Hmmm…it wasn't positively spectacular, but wasn't positively boring either. Nakamura is a really nice person…"

"Are you going to go out with him again anytime soon?" Akiyo asked bending down behind the bar to take out a bottle of sake. So far both Akari and Akiyo were completely ignoring the two ANBU in the bar.

"I'm not sure, possibly. Lately there have been many other men coming into town so…" Tenzo coughed, drawing Akari's attention away from her conversation with her boss. "May I help you?" She asked him through half-lidded eyes, her voice mocking politeness.

Though she couldn't see it, Tenzo's right eye twitched. "You're interrupting our conversation."

Her eyes brightened up when she realized who these men were. "You guys are Konoha ANBU aren't you!" She asked, her voice now brimming with excitement.

"Oh lord…" Akiyo groaned. "If I were you two gentlemen, I'd run."

"Why…" Tenzo started, but soon understood why when Akari latched herself onto his arm.

"You guys don't happen to know who…the Copy Ninja is do you? I heard he's a member of the Konoha ANBU too."

"We wouldn't know. No one really knows the true identity of anyone." Kuwa laughed, not wanting to reveal too much information to average citizens.

Akari frowned, but soon grinned again. She unlatched herself from Tenzo and moved closer to Kuwa. "Or maybe you're the famous copy ninja?" Before Kuwa could deny her statement, Akiyo came around the bar and pulled Akari away.

"Akari you need to stop hitting on every man you see."

"I do not hit on every man that I see! Only the really strong ones," she winked at Kuwa, who was unaffected by her flirtatious manner. "So Akiyo-san, what do these strong, handsome men want with you?" Kuwa scoffed at the word "handsome"; she couldn't even see their faces.

"Oh, well they just want some information on Sosei," Akiyo answered her nonchalantly.

Kuwa sighed. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't reveal our conversation to outsiders Akiyo-san."

"Well, you should have told me so in the first place or I wouldn't have told Akari here," was all the bartender said.

"Since you know now anyway, what do you know about it?" Kuwa asked Akari.

"About Sosei?" Akari folded her arms and closed her eyes, as though in deep thought. "I think I know quite a lot about it actually."

"Is that so?" Kuwa raised an unseen eyebrow, highly doubting the girl.

"Yeah, I'll tell you everything I know, if you give me a kiss!"

Tenzo was gaping beneath his mask, but Kuwa didn't seem alarmed at all by her request. "Sure, but you'll have to close your eyes."

She shook her head and grinned. "I don't want a kiss from you; I want a kiss from him." Akari pointed at Tenzo. "I can tell he's younger than you are and that'll make it all the more enjoyable. You're blushing under your mask now aren't you?" She asked Tenzo, who looked away. Her grin only grew wider. "I knew it. How adorable."

"Tch, I didn't know you're a pedophile now Akari. The kid is obviously younger than you."

Akari pouted. "Probably not that much younger…"

"You didn't even deny the fact that I called you a pedophile," Akiyo sighed and then spoke to Kuwa. "I'll tell you what you need to know, before she scars your friend for life. Take a seat why don't you?" So Kuwa and Tenzo sat down in front of the bar as Akiyo and Akari stood behind it, sipping sake. "To be honest I don't know much about the organization itself, but I do know that they've been recruiting people to join, you know? Thugs, the homeless, runaways, criminals, as long as you meet their requirements you can join. Apparently you have to take a test…"

"And where…"

Akiyo shook his head rather furiously. "Don't ask me, I wouldn't know."

"I see…" Kuwa stated, not very happy with the information given. He already knew just about everything Akiyo had to tell him. At least they knew where that this town was a spot of recruitment for Sosei.

"You know, if you come by later at night, around 10 or so, you could probably ask some customers about it." Akari chimed in. "You may want to change out of your ANBU uniforms though!"

"Yes, well…we'll be taking our leave now. Let's go Tenzo."

"Yes, sir."

Kuwa, whose true name was Hatake Kakashi, exited the bar with Tenzo in deep thought. Odds were that the two of them would have to go back to the bar at night because chances were that Akiyo and Akari weren't telling them the whole truth. For all he knew, Akiyo, or even Akari, could be in charge of recruitment for Sosei. Akari was a rather strange girl; she's very straightforward and yet he could tell that she wasn't being completely honest with them. What really bothered Kakashi was when she asked about the Copy Ninja, which no doubt meant him. He was surprised that people know him by that name, especially since he's an ANBU. Of course that begs the question, how did she, a seemingly normal citizen, know about him?

"Kuwa-senpai," Tenzo spoke, breaking Kakashi away from his thoughts. "Are we going back tonight?"

"Of course, we'll have to report to Captain though and make sure he watches the perimeter. If the recruiter finds out we're in there, they'll no doubt make a run for it."

Meanwhile, Akari watched the two ANBU walk out of the bar. She sighed. "This is no good Akiyo. Now we have the Konoha ANBU after us. You know, Konoha has always struck me as the biggest threat out of the Five Nations."

"I suppose so, Nyoko-sama." Akiyo agreed with her, calling her by her true name.

"Come with me Akiyo." She motioned him to follow her into the door behind the bar. They first entered a small kitchen, but this was not their destination. Nyoko opened another door that lead to a staircase, leading down into the basement. The basement looked like any other basement and served as a storage room. The walls were that of cement and boxes were stacked here and there containing some food items sold in the bar above. Just your ordinary basement, but little known to outsiders a secret room was behind the shelf against the back wall and it was there that Nyoko and Akiyo went to discuss a pressing matter. The secret room was rather nicely furnished and the furniture was that of a red theme. Velvet sofas and love seats surrounded a black rectangular wooden table. Dark red and black draperies adorned the walls along with still-life paintings. Nyoko made no hesitation in sitting at the head of the table with her feet kicked up on the table. She didn't even take a bit of notice that Akiyo could now look up his skirt if he liked.

"Nyoko-sama," Akiyo started, ignoring the sight of her black panties. "…to invite the ANBU back isn't very…"

She kicked the table to silence him. "Who put me in charge here Akiyo?" She asked, her kind innocent mask disappeared in a flash, replaced with a narrow glare.

Akiyo's eye twitched. "Enmaru-sama."

"That is correct." Nyoko removed her feet from the table and now rested her chin upon her hands. "And if you don't approve of my actions, then you don't approve of Enmaru-sama."

"I didn't mean tha…"

"Quiet!" She began shuffling a bunch of papers and stuffing them in a suitcase. "Just go send a messenger bird to Enmaru-sama immediately. Inform him of the Konoha ANBU and that this base of operation must close down."

"But that would…"

"Do not argue with me."

"Don't be so damned cocky! You're just a fucking kid!" Akiyo shouted, finally losing his temper with this girl who was about thirty years younger than he. "Just because Enmaru-sama put you in a high position doesn't mean you can just treat me like dirt! You're just an eighteen year old!"

Nyoko laughed darkly in the man's face. "Don't make me laugh. I've been with Enmaru-sama since the beginning, even before he created the organization, Sosei. If anyone here doesn't have enough experience it's you, who apparently can't follow orders." Her sardonic smile only grew when Akiyo bowed his head in defeat. "Lovely, but you know what? I think I'll make you deliver the message to Enmaru-sama himself and take this suitcase. It contains important documents of all the people we've recruited here. Please don't lose them. I'll be taking care of the ANBU."

"Yes, Nyoko-sama." Akiyo bowed.

"That's what I like to hear. Now get going." He left as Nyoko stood up and began rustling around to look for a cigarette. After finding it, she lit it and set in the ash tray on the table, allowing it to burn out on its own. She inhaled a deep breath and then relaxed back in her chair again. She couldn't believe that the Konoha ANBU had found a base of operations already. Luckily she was here to check how Akiyo was handling things, now she could deal with them herself. Nyoko then began to wonder if it was really the best choice to stay here and deal with the ANBU, but then again if she could take out these two, then that'd mean two less enemies to deal with in the future. She took in a deep breath again. The smell of this brand of cigarette calmed her; it reminded her of her master Enmaru Yoru. "Yoru-sama," she found herself sighing. The chimes of bells alerted her that the first customer of the night had entered the bar and she stood up stretching. "Let's get this over with…"

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><p>Kakashi walked into the bar with Tenzo; the same bar the two had visited earlier that late afternoon. From what he could tell, by glancing around the room, there seemed to be quite a large amount of people in the bar, especially for a small town like this one. The majority of the customers were male, although there were a few women here and there. No matter the sex, they all seemed to be chatting with each other rather excitingly. Almost all of their conversations were similar to one another's.<p>

"Do you think they'll let me join?"

"You have to be super strong. I hear they give you some sort of test."

"Man, once I get in things will take a turn for the better…"

"Sosei will change the world as we know it," said a man with a scar over his right eye. He took a swing from straight from a sake bottle, before continuing his conversation with the younger man in front of him. "Unless you're ready to put your life on the line, then you shouldn't join just yet. I heard that Sosei is striving for world peace."

"Doesn't that seem a bit unrealistic?" asked the younger counterpart.

"I guess, but if we join and if Sosei is able to achieve its goal, then we'll be rewarded beyond our wildest dreams."

"Isn't it risky though? I heard that the Five Great Shinobi Nations are starting to get involved…"

"Excuse me sirs," a familiar voice drew Kakashi's attention away from the conversation. The young waitress with the purple hair stood before him and Tenzo; she didn't seem to recognize them as the two ANBU who were at the bar a few hours before. "What can I get you two?" Her voice and demeanor were different from before; her voice sounded slightly more…seductive. Kakashi's expression remained unchanging. "Just get us some sake."

"Of course," she flashed them a grin, before taking off behind the kitchen.

"All these people," his partner Tenzo said after the girl left. "They're all here to join that organization and we have no idea who it is that is recruiting them. What's our course of action?"

"I'll ask the girl some questions." Kakashi paused as he thought. "I want you to go investigate the back area. You might find something there. The captain guarding the outside, the recruiter shouldn't be able to escape in case we find them in here and they make a run for it. "

"Tch, I see I'm the one who gets to do all the work." He mumbled, but followed his senpai's orders. Just as he got up to leave, the purple haired waitress returned with a flask of sake.

"Where's your friend going?" She asked Kakashi.

"He's looking for someone." He answered. "Listen…"

She cut him off before he could start his interrogation. "His girlfriend? That's too bad. He was somewhat good looking compared to some of the other men you find here. He looks rather young…" She glanced at two bald muscle heads out of the corner of her eye. "But then again," she started, reverting her attention to Kakashi. "You're rather good looking too, despite that eye patch of yours…" A coy smile appeared across her face as she leaned in and played with the edge of his mask. "…but I can't see much of your face with this mask in the way."

Although Kakashi calmly swatted her hand away from him, he had to admit he was not used to having a person of the opposite gender so close to him. "As I was saying," he continued, ignoring her comments. "You wouldn't know the person in charge would you?"

"My boss isn't here tonight. He left after…after two Konoha ninja came here earlier today…"

Kakashi's eyebrow rose. "Oh really? Why is that?"

"I'm not sure, but he's such a jerk, leaving me alone to work the bar all by my lonesome!" She complained and Kakashi cursed silently. There was a slight possibility that the person who was recruiting for Sosei had left already and could be long gone from here.

"When I asked about the person in charge, I meant the person in charge of…Sosei," Kakashi quickly amended his question in hopes she would give him some useful information.

"Why?" She asked, somewhat suspicious. "Are you looking to join it too?"

"There are others who want to join too?" Kakashi faked ignorance.

"Of course, look around you; look at these people in this bar. They all pretty much have nothing. They all want to join Sosei, and although their reasons for joining may be different, one thing is always the same: Sosei gives them hope that their present states will be transformed into something better; they'll be reborn."

"You sound like you really like this Sosei organization."

"Yes, well…to be honest I hope one day I could join."

"Do you even know their purpose?"

She shook her purple head. "No, but I don't need to. I just know that things will only get better after I join."

"But where do you join? I mean it's not like they could have a sign-up sheet out in the open…"

She grinned at him and leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "The recruiter has to invite you to join; everyone knows that. You know I've seen some people slip into the kitchen. I can only guess that's where people can become official members, either that or the basement."

"Why are you telling me this?" Kakashi asked consciously, "And why are you so close to me?"

"Not used to close contact I see," she smirked. "And as for your first question, I'm simply telling you what I know, after all you do want to join don't you? I thought maybe if I helped you out…you'd give me something in return… I'm Akari. What's your name?"

"I'd rather you not ask me questions."

"That's not very fair, Stranger. You've asked me some questions, why can't you answer some of mine?"

"I'm not very…" Kakashi stalled to think of the right word.

"…talkative?" Akari filled in the blank. "That's alright. I like the strong mysterious type." Her fingers trailed up and down his arm.

"Akari!" Someone shouted, both Kakashi and Akari looked up to see a man, just about as tall as Kakashi himself, enter the bar. He had dark blue hair and coal black eyes.

"Nakamura!" The waitress smiled, before turning back to Kakashi. "Well, I must be off. I hope you're able to join Sosei, but if I were you, I'd leave and come back another night. It looks pretty crowded and no one has been called to the back yet." She said, looking directly into his one uncovered eye. Kakashi momentarily felt locked with her gaze and he could tell that she truly meant her words, but something was off. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw a brief look of regret flash across her face, before she smiled one last time and left to converse with the blue haired man. Kakashi did not dwell on this any further and decided to take this chance to go check out the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen, he saw no one there, but took notice of the door in the back. He opened this door and found that it lead to a staircase. He descended down it to go meet up with Tenzo.

While Kakashi disappeared to the back of the bar, Nyoko waltzed out of the bar into the cool night air, her arm linked to Nakamura's, and noticed a man who stood a little ways away from the bar, smoking a cigarette. Nyoko walked past him calmly, being sure to keep her chakra levels in check. The two continued walking until Nyoko deemed themselves a good distance away. "Nyoko-sama, Akiyo came to me before he left. I really advise against…"

"Please believe me when I say I have things under control, Nakamura-kun. Go to the recruitment center we have in the southern part of fire country. We'll need to temporarily stop recruiting, while Enmaru-sama decides the best course of action. Chances are some Konoha ANBU may have found that one too."

"Yes Nyoko-sama," He gave a curt nod before vanishing into the dark of the night to follow her orders.

Nyoko waited until Nakamura was out of sight. "Kumorigan," she whispered and her within her gray eyes a black spider web pattern emerged in each. "_Chakura Nagare._" Streams of a dark blue light shot out from each of her fingertips. With an incredible amount of focus, she directed these streams of chakra back towards the bar, within a few seconds, the bar blew up. With a grin on her face, she ran off without looking back to admire her work. However as she ran a feeling of…regret rose up from within her. This regret did not come from the fact that she had probably killed many innocent lives just to kill off two members of ANBU, but because she killed the man with the mask. There was something different about him, but she didn't know what. She silently hoped that he somehow survived the explosion.

Nyoko climbed up a nearby tree to look back on the damage she had caused. She could see the tall tower of smoke rising into the starry sky. "Goodbye Masked Stranger, hopefully we'll meet again someday."

This was her first farewell.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: OK, another chapter for ya'll. I'm a little nervous, because I'm not sure how the story will work out. I guess I'll just have to keep pushing forward. **

**Yugakure is the Hidden Hot Springs Village and Yu no Kuni is Hot Springs Country.**

**PLEASE NOTE that Kakashi and Nyoko do not know each other's true identites; although they have their suspicions. Nyoko knows Kakashi as Obito, while Kakashi knows Nyoko as Akari.**

**Reviews would be lovely. I hope ya like.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

**Hello Again Masked Stranger**

The steam from a nearby natural hot spring brightened the purple haired youth's mood. Nyoko was in a pinch of sorts. She had no idea how Yoru-sama would be able to contact her now and the only solution she could come up with would be to go to the southern branch of Sosei operations in Fire Country. However to get there she had to go past Konohagakure, and she didn't want to risk running into Konoha ninjas. Not only that, but she never had a chance to change out of her maid uniform; her other clothes were destroyed in the explosion she caused a couple of days ago. Nyoko sighed to herself. She really needed to learn to think ahead more often.

Once again, sighing to herself she decided to stop and take off her shoes. She sat on the edge of the hot spring and dipped her feet in. "Ahhh…" Her aching feet welcomed the much needed rest. Titling her head, she closed her eyes and thought of her home in Yugakure. Why did Yoru-sama send her so far away? She should be by his side right now, but instead she had been demoted down to check on bases of operations…in Fire Country of all places! Did he not have an important need for her anymore? This couldn't be. No…this must be a test of her loyalty. That was all.

She abruptly stood up. No. She had already sent Nakamura down to the Southern branch. He was ordered to stop the order of operations until further notice. He would then probably send a message back to Yugakure. Of course he would, he wasn't that stupid. So, she decided to go back to Yugakure, back to Yoru-sama. Slipping her shoes back on she began to journey North, only to be stopped.

"Akari-san?"

Nyoko turned to see the masked stranger from the night before. He wore the same attire as he did last night: the same shirt, pants, shoes, mask, and eye patch. For a moment, she wasn't sure if she was seeing a ghost or not. She couldn't understand it, how did he survive the explosion? He should have died. He shouldn't be standing here before her…but then again, what was he doing **here**? She quickly suppressed her temporary state of surprise and crossed her arms. "Well, if it isn't the Masked Stranger," she greeted him, mocking a curtsy. "Nice to see you again."

Kakashi eyed the girl calmly, but knew that there must be more to her than meets the eye. Kakashi remembered that she left the bar a few minutes before it had exploded. Luckily enough, Tenzo was able to create a wooden barrier around himself and Kakashi, so they both survived. Even the Captain, who accompanied them on their mission, saw her leaving the scene with that one Nakamura character, meaning it was highly likely that either Akari or Nakamura caused the explosion. Akari was standing right here, but where was Nakamura?

"It's nice to see you too," he finally replied politely. "But I won't lie; I didn't expect to see you. I didn't think you'd survive the explosion."

"Yes, well Nakamura had some things to discuss with me, so we both left the bar to talk somewhere more private."

"Where is he now?"

"In the western part of Fire Country, I believe. His brother got into a bit of trouble there and so he went to help him out."

"Well…then where are you going? Shouldn't you be waiting for him to return?"

"Yes…but I see no need to…seeing that we've broken up; he said that he may not come back for a while and that it'd probably be for the best…" She answered Kakashi, her eyes downcast.

"Oh…" Kakashi blinked, slightly shocked by her answer, although it was something he was sort of expecting.

"'Oh' is right…" She spoke softly, slowly walking closer to him. "But it's alright, that just leaves my…options more open," She said with a grin, eyeing Kakashi up and down. "But last time **I** checked, **you** were headed to the kitchen before the bar went up in flames. My question is, how did you survive it without any injuries?"

"Luckily for me there was a ninja from Konoha there. He was able to protect us from the explosion."

Nyoko's stone colored eyes slightly widened, before returning to normal. "Well that is very fortunate for you. I'm a bit jealous though. You're so lucky to have a big, strong man to save you." Kakashi couldn't help, but snort. He couldn't help but think of Tenzo's physique. Sure, the kid was strong, but big? Nyoko's eyes shined with glee. "What's so funny? Was it a woman who saved you?"

"No…" Kakashi answered. He quickly regretted it.

Nyoko simply continued smiling and slowly made her way towards him. "I'm glad to see you're answering my questions. So, where exactly are you headed now?"

"I could be asking you that."

She pulled a childish frown. "How mean." Although she was upset that he wouldn't answer her question, she decided to tell him where she was heading anyways. "I'm on my way to Yu no Kuni. You know, the hot springs there are more relaxing the ones found in this dump of a country." She commented off handedly.

Now it was Kakashi's turn to frown. "There isn't anything wrong with the hot springs here."

"How would you know? Have you ever been to Yu no Kuni?"

"No," Kakashi lied. "But I don't think there's anything wrong with the hot springs here."

"So you're from Fire Country." Nyoko stated firmly.

"I didn't say that!"

She grinned. "Don't lie to me," she sang. She then draped herself over his shoulders, her chest pressing against his back. "Your secret is safe with me." She whispered in his ear.

"Will you get off?" He requested calmly.

"You shy or somethin'?" She teased for no reason, as she got off from his back and stood to face in front of him again. He said nothing, so she continued. "Well, if you're so annoyed with me, then you should just leave me be." She gave a wave goodbye and began heading off towards the north.

Kakashi slightly panicked in that he didn't know how he could best stop her from leaving. After summarizing the events of the mission he was on a few days ago to the Hokage, Kakashi was then sent out on an undercover mission to find Akari. He couldn't let her get away now; there was a possibility that she could be the key to finding out more about Sosei. Fighting her wasn't an option, since that would no doubt blow his cover and he had nothing he could attach to her so that he could track her down later. Maybe Tenzo was better suited for this mission, but then again with Akari's…flirty behavior, Kakashi wasn't sure how long Tenzo would have been able to last. Sighing to himself, he resolved in calling out to her. "Wait!"

Nyoko heard the masked stranger call out to her. She grinned, despite the fact it would have probably been best if he left her alone. None the less she stopped walking and waited for him to catch up to her. "Is there something wrong? Did you forget something? A kiss perhaps?"

"No…I…uh…" Kakashi struggled to find the right words to say.

"If you have something to say, will you please hurry up and say it? I'm killing day light right here, standing around waiting for you to say something…"

"I just thought it'd be better if I went with you."

Nyoko was now on alert. He wanted to go with her to Yu no Kuni? "Why in the world would you want to go with me? If you ask me, you're probably better off here in Fire Country with their 'excellent' hot springs."

Kakashi wasn't really expecting her to outright reject him. She seemed like the type of person who would enjoy the company of a random stranger. "Yeah, but it's a bit far from here to be travelling by yourself. You could get into trouble."

"Maybe I like trouble." She grinned.

Kakashi silently became more frustrated. "But it's dangerous out there! You could get hurt…" His words trailed of because he was starting to feel a bit silly.

Sure enough Nyoko laughed at him. "Aren't you the funniest thing? Too cute…" She leaned in to pinch his cheek. "Alright, tag along Puppy."

"P-puppy?"

"Yeah, you still haven't told me your name yet." Nyoko pointed out. "So until you tell me what it is, I'll just have to call you whatever I want."

"Don't go deciding such things for yourself."

She placed her hands on her hips. "So what would you like me to call you?" When he said nothing, she laughed again. "You're a strange one. What is it? Are you wanted by the Konoha ANBU or somethin'?"

"No…it's just…"

"Are you so foolish that you can't even make up a fake name for me to call you?"

"Obito! Just call me Obito!"

"Obito? You look nothing like an 'Obito'!" She shrieked with laughter. "Ah well, if it's the best you can do…"

Kakashi ignored her teasing. "So why are you headed towards Yu no Kuni again?"

"I don't think it's any of your business. After all, you won't even tell me your real name!" Nyoko pointed out.

"My name really is Obito!" He repeated, hoping that his constant insisting would convince her.

"Fine, fine. I'm headed to Yu no Kuni because of my father."

"Your father?"

"Yeah, I'm originally from Yu no Kuni, but moved out to here maybe a year or two ago."

"Why?"

"It's personal." She said curtly. "Anyways, I received a letter from my mother a couple of weeks ago that father has fallen ill. I have to return to take care of the shop. You see, I'm the eldest daughter and everything so…"

"That's awfully kind of you to leave what you've made for yourself to go help your family, but why wait so long?" He asked casually as the two began their journey to Yu no Kuni.

"Akiyo said he didn't have time to replace me when I left. Actually, I was supposed to leave this weekend, but since Akiyo disappeared and the bar blew up I don't really have a choice but to go back."

"Oh," Well now Kakashi feeling guilty. He was basically the reason why this girl lost her job. "It won't be too bad, moving back into your old home."

"What do you know?" She snapped and Kakashi flinched. "My father and I don't exactly see eye to eye. I dread the moment I step foot back into that house." Nyoko feigned disdain towards 'her' father. She knew that spinning up lies to 'Obito' wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. After all, there was a chance that she may contradict herself later, but for now she was enjoying herself, creating a background story for her fake persona 'Akari'. "Father used to be a shinobi for Yugakure. He was the best of the best," Nyoko continued, an amused smile hidden very well upon her face. "But one day, when he returned home from a mission, he was discharged from his duties as a shinobi. The other members of Yugakure had discovered that my father had written a proposal to change the village from a shinobi village into a civilian village. His words were basically heresy. If only he had never suggested it…"

Nyoko was surprised when Kakashi suddenly snatched her wrist and spun her around. "Don't say such things about your father."

She blinked at him; she didn't expect to get a reaction from him, especially with her fake story. "He's my father. I can say whatever I want about him."

"He was just doing what he thought was right."

Nyoko's eye twitched. Was this guy trying to pick a row with her? "What was right, the fact that he suggested all the existing shinobi quit their jobs and work at a bath house? It's like spitting in their faces! How would you even know?" She said angrily; there was no way she was going to lose an argument against Kakashi.

"Were you a shinobi from the Hot Springs Village?"

Silence, a silence blanketed over the two of them. She stopped walking as did he. He looked back at her, waiting for an answer. "No, of course not. I dropped out of the Academy a couple of weeks after my father's discharge." She mumbled.

She flinched when she felt something on her back. Kakashi was leading her on down the dirt path they were walking on, his arm around her shoulder. "When we arrive, you can apologize to your father. I'll be there so…"

Nyoko looked up at this man in disbelief. Did he actually believe her story? It was unbelievable what she felt right then. She actually, sincerely felt like a piece of crap. There she was practically spoon feeding him a bullshit story and there he was comforting her. "You don't have to do that." She tried to shrug him off.

"You don't understand; your father isn't going to be around forever. Make up with him while you still can." His words practically shot arrows thorough her heart.

"Oh…Oh my god." She buried her face in her hands. She had lied and deceived many people in the past, but never before had she felt so foolish and regretful in her life.

"Don't worry about it." Kakashi tried to soothe her, although he felt extremely awkward. For the most part, he was only pretending to be concerned. After all, that entire story she just told him could have been a lie, but it also could have been the truth and this only made him feel a bit worse about himself. He convinced himself that if this ill father Akari was talking about was real, then he would help her fix her broken relationship with her father. This only made him feel slightly better. To be honest, he wasn't sure how long this charade could last.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Yeah, can't even remember when I last posted XP. Sorry if it took a while, but I wanted to wrap up this other fanfiction I was working on before summer vacation ended. Now I can focus a bit more on this one, but please mind that it'll take a while for chapters to come out because of school and everything. Hope it isn't too confusing, and please review!**

**Reminders...Kakashi = Obito (fake name) and Nyoko = Akari (fake name) For the sake of trying to keep the story from becoming more confusing than it needs to be, I'll only use Kakashi and Nyoko's fake names when they're talking verbally to/about each other.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

**Protecting and Defending**

"Are you sure you want to sleep here?" Kakashi asked Nyoko, who was stretched out on the grassy hill.

The said female closed her eyes and stifled a yawn. "Sure, I don't see why not."

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Of what?" Nyoko giggled. "Are you scared?"

"Of course not!" Kakashi said quickly. "It's just that we aren't exactly protected or safe out here in an open field."

"I don't see a problem. It's not like we're running from anyone…" She peered up at Kakashi. "Unless you're like a rogue ninja or something." She couldn't tell if he was frowning or not, since he was wearing a mask and the only things lighting up the night were the moon and stars. Her grin could no longer be retained as he gave in and sat down beside her. In reality, she knew that he had a valid point. For all Nyoko knew, the Konoha ANBU could be tracking her down as she relaxed on this small hillside, but if the young man who sat beside her was in fact one of Konoha's finest, then she couldn't do anything that would alert his suspicion.

"I still think it'd be better if we went to an inn or something."

"Tell me Obito, how much money do you have on you?" Nyoko asked.

"Not very much…" Kakashi answered, hoping that this was the answer Nyoko was searching for.

"I got some money on me, but I'd rather save it for when I may really need it. Besides, the nearest inn is quite a ways away from here. I'd rather just sleep out here. It's a warm night anyways." Nyoko rolled over on her side to face him. "Aren't you tired? Just lie down."

Before he could stop himself, Kakashi spoke. "Someone should keep watch."

"You're a ninja. You have to be."

"I'm not a shinobi." Kakashi mumbled and looked away.

"You're lying. Besides, there's no way you'd show interest in joining Sosei if you didn't have some sort of background. You're a shinobi."

Kakashi opened his mouth to deny her statement, but then soon realized something. He gazed down at the lying girl, believing that he had finally caught her. "You…you said that you hoped that someday you'd be able to join Sosei too. Wouldn't that make you a shinobi as well?"

"Ah…" Nyoko choked. How could she make such a mistake! "No, of course not. I already told you that I dropped out of Yugakure's ninja academy after my father was discharged. It's just…"

"Just what?" Kakashi pressed; there was no way she could deny the fact now. She had to be a shinobi as well and perhaps currently a member of Sosei itself.

"It's just…sometimes I wish I didn't."

"Didn't?"

"Didn't leave the academy." She said, slowly gaining her confidence again. It was time to make up another story. She shifted so that she was lying on her back and stared at the stars above. "Maybe if I didn't leave the academy I would have been able to bring back the honor my father lost. Maybe I could have made him proud."

"Akari…it not like what happened to your father was your fault…"

"It wasn't, but maybe if I stayed in the academy, I could have made a difference. To be honest, becoming a part of Sosei, would be more like a dream than anything, an unattainable dream, since I don't have the necessary skills. I just thought maybe by joining Sosei I'd be able to make a difference, maybe not for my father, but maybe for someone else in this world…I don't know…" She glanced back at Kakashi, who looked away when their eyes met. She laughed quietly. "Now look what you did! You've made me get all depressed and stuff on ya." She pushed him over.

"H-Hey!" Kakashi pushed weakly back, a bit unsure if he would hurt her or not. If she was a shinobi, she was doing a good job at hiding it. "Will you get off?"

"Nope! Not until you say sorry for making me so sad!" She whined as she wrestled against him.

"What? No. This is ridiculous. Get off." He said, trying to push her off without harming her.

"No way!" She straddled his hips and now Kakashi was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Why are you so…forward?"

"Forward? Do you mean flirty? Because many eighteen year old girls are flirty; it's normal."

"I'm pretty sure most girls wouldn't straddle a guy they just met." Kakashi mumbled.

Nyoko leaned forward so that her lips barely grazed his ear. "Well, I'm not like most girls." She whispered and Kakashi finally threw her off. Nyoko erupted in a burst of giggles as she rolled onto the grass. "You're so cute Obito."

"And you're getting on my nerves."

"How rude!" She sighed and lied back on the grass again. Nyoko found herself wishing that she had a more talkative companion. Don't get it wrong; she liked the strong and silent type. It's just she didn't know if this guy was strong, so that sort of made him the silent and silent type, quite boring. Nyoko stifled a yawn, before closing her eyes.

"Oi…Oi!" Someone was nudging her side.

Nyoko peeked through her eyelids. "Obito…I'm pretty sure it's not morning yet and I'm pretty sure you're not waking me up to have a chat. You're not exactly the talkative type…" Her voice was soon muffled by his hand. She looked up at him with a questioning look. He wasn't looking down at her; he was looking back towards the forest. It was odd. The light of the moon seemed to hit is face in such a way that made him seem more mysterious than he already was.

"I thought I heard something."

She sat up and looked into the same direction he was looking at. "I don't think anyone's there. You're probably being paranoid."

"It's not a good idea for us to be out in the open. C'mon." Kakashi stood up and pulled Nyoko up with him. He knew that he was sort of making her more suspicious of him, but if they were attacked by a third part then he would have no choice but to defend himself and her. That would just complicate his mission more than it needed to be.

"Obito, Obito." Nyoko tried to get his attention. He didn't respond and kept leading her away, his hand grasped tightly in hers. "Obito." She repeated.

Kakashi realized that she was trying to get his attention. "Yes, what is it?" He didn't turn back to look at her.

Nyoko stopped walking, causing him to stop too. "You don't seem okay. Are you alright?"

What the hell was Kakashi supposed to tell her? "Sorry, it's just I…" Kakashi drawled out, stalling for a bit of time to come up with something. "When I was a kid, my father and I were traveling down to the southern part of Fire Country. We didn't travel fast enough, so we weren't able to make it to the next town before night fall. My father thought that we should just camp under the stars, a sort of father-son thing you know. But that night there was a group of thugs, I guess you could call them a gang. They attacked travellers and robbed them. We happened to be their victims that night. Father told me to run for it. I never saw him again."

There was a sickening feeling in Nyoko's stomach. He just had to throw a sob story at her. "Alright, we'll just keep going to the next town then." She muttered, leading him back the way they came.

"Wait a minute, you're going the wrong direction. The road is just over there."

"But we came from that direction."

"No, I'm pretty sure the road is this way." Kakashi pulled her in the other direction.

"I swear it's the other way."

"Will you please just come this way?" He was starting to get annoyed. They couldn't go back to where they were before or else…

"Well, look what we have here…" A mysterious voice came from behind them. Both Kakashi and Nyoko looked behind them to see two tall men, both masked.

"A lover's quarrel perhaps?"

Kakashi automatically pulled Nyoko behind him. "O-Obito."

"Isn't that cute, Ren? He thinks he can protect her." One of the two jeered while the other, named Ren, laughed.

Nyoko glared. "Back off!"

"Aww, it looks like this little kitty fights back, Saiko."

"C'mon girlie, let's not make things more troublesome then they gotta be. Just give us your money and we'll be on our way."

"No way! Obito here just happens to be a skilled shinobi, so if you know what's good for ya back off!" Nyoko shouted and Kakashi did everything he could to not slap her mouth shut.

"A-Akari…"

"Hmmm? A Shinobi? I don't see his headband. Don't make me laugh!" Saiko cried. "Let's show these two who's boss, Ren."

"Crap," Kakashi moaned and ran for it, dragging Akari behind.

Nyoko stared at him in horror. "What are you doing running away for? Just kick those guys ass! I know you can!"

"I've told you already! I'm not a shinobi!" Kakashi shouted behind him. He honestly wanted her to shut up so that he could focus on running.

"Who cares if you're one or not! You obviously know how to fight to some extent." She accused.

"Okay, I can, but there's no way I can take two of them on by myself."

"We can't keep running like this. They're definitely going to catch up with us eventu…"

Both Nyoko and Kakashi skidded to a stop when the two robbers appeared before them. "There's no place to run." They smirked beneath their masks and threw kunai at Nyoko and Kakashi.

Kakashi threw Nyoko out of the way and dodged the oncoming kunai by jumping the other way. "Akari, run!"

"But…"

"Just go!" He yelled. Nyoko flinched and ran off.

One of the robbers started after her, but the other held him back. "We can easily catch up to her later. Take out this guy first."

Kakashi sighed. These guys had no idea who they were dealing with.

Nyoko, on the other hand, did as Kakashi asked and ran. She couldn't help but think of him as a complete idiot. However, this was a good chance as any to ditch the guy and head on to Yugakure without running into any more problems. Just then she heard an explosion from behind her. Nyoko skidded to a stop with a slight pain in her chest. "Eh?" What was this she feeling? Her hand closed into a fist.

Another explosion went off. The feeling in her chest, it was an odd feeling, seeing that she hadn't known Obito for very long. There was something about him she simply liked. Not only that, but he had told her to run and save herself. Would a member of Konoha's ANBU allow a suspect to leave freely? Nyoko highly doubted it; maybe he really was a wanderer looking for a place to belong. A third explosion rang throughout the air, causing Nyoko's worry to grow. Bombs and the like were Nyoko's specialty and as such Nyoko knew weaknesses a bomber could have in a battle. She knew she might regret it later, but she ended up running back. "Tch, the things I do…"

She raced back down the path and successfully hid herself within the trees. She could see the two figures below her and many feet away. The enemy had his back to her. Kakashi stood a fair distance from the enemy. Nyoko couldn't really see anything else, but knew that the enemy must have more explosives on him. "_Kumorigan." _ The intricate, web-like pattern appeared in her gray eyes. Holding out a hand, she whispered. "_Chakra Nagare."_

Kakashi now kept his distance from his enemy. He had taken care of the shorter one, Saiko, who knocked out on the ground, while the other one, Ren, stood a good distance away from him. Ren happened to be an explosives expert and had caused the explosion a few seconds before. Kakashi admitted that he didn't expect for a mere robber to be very skilled, but that didn't matter. Kakashi could defeat Ren easily, especially if he used his Sharingan. If he quickly defeated Ren, then he could catch up to Akari before she got away. However, just as he was about to remove the patch covering his left eye, another explosion went off, consuming his enemy in flames.

He was startled and confused. He most certainly didn't cause the explosion and he doubted that his enemy had opted to commit suicide. As he took a step closer to examine the enemy's body, Akari appeared from the trees. She ran out and didn't hesitate to embrace him. Needless to say, Kakashi was shocked, not only by the fact that she was hugging him, but also by the fact that he did not sense her. A common citizen would not have been able to hide their presence from him and the fact that Akari seemed to do so was unsettling.

"I was so worried!" She cried. "When I heard the explosions…I couldn't help but come back…I…"

Kakashi took no notice to her words anymore for he was in deep thought. If she was indeed a part of Sosei, then she would not have come back to him when he had just given her a chance to escape. It simply made no sense, but he couldn't deny that she wasn't an ordinary citizen like she claimed to be. He knew she had some background in ninja training, but dropping out from an academy didn't warrant her to have the necessary skills to be a ninja.

"Obito…" Her voice was soft and gentle, causing Kakashi to return his attention to her. She gazed up at him for a moment, before going on her tip-toes and planting a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for protecting me."

Kakashi was glad for the mask covering his face.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Another chapter for ya, and guess who's making an appearance? Read the chapter title and guess. lol**

**Please remember, Nyoko=Akari and Kakashi=Obito, and please note that Deidara is 8 years old during this time period.**

**Please remember to leave a review! Hope you enjoy.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

**Art is an Explosion**

"Obito, please slow down a bit." Nyoko requested.

"Hmm? Yeah…" Kakashi stopped walking so that she could catch up to him. For some reason, since last night, she seemed a bit weaker and fatigued. When Kakashi asked her about her condition, she simply said that it was "that time of the month". So Kakashi immediately dropped the conversation.

Nyoko groaned and covered her eyes with one hand. It felt like her eyes had a pulse; she couldn't help but feel slight regret in stepping into Kakashi's fight yesterday. The explosive tags on that ninja she blew up weren't custom made for her chakra, so she ended up using a lot more chakra than she intended. It also didn't help that she didn't sleep much. Kakashi had insisted that they start traveling as soon as possible.

"How long do you say it'll take to get there from where we are now?"

"From here?" Nyoko looked around to take in significant landmarks. "Maybe about 2 or 3 days depending…"

"Depending on what?"

"I don't know. Circumstances?" She shrugged her shoulders and stopped walking. "I'm sorry Obito, but I really need to take a break."

"We've only been walking for about two hours now."

"Yeah…**only **two hours. We didn't even eat breakfast yet." She pointed out.

Kakashi sighed. He wanted to get to Yugakure as soon as possible so he could complete his mission, but if she was tired… "Fine. We'll hurry to the next town after we rest a bit. Then we could find something to eat."

"Thank heaven!" She promptly sat down on a nearby rock, motioning for Kakashi to sit beside her. He obliged, only to feel a bit uncomfortable. Nyoko had decided to rest her head against his shoulder. In Kakashi's defense, he had never really had time for girls, being a part of ANBU and everything. Furthermore, he didn't really take much interest in any. Not that he was gay or anything. He happened to find women to be fairly attractive. He just hadn't met a girl that struck his interest. "Obito…"

"Hm?"

"What are you going to do once we get to Yugakure? Are you going to continue to follow me around like a lost puppy? I don't think my family would like it if I brought a stray dog home." She teased.

"I'm going to join Sosei when I get there." Kakashi said, sticking to his story. "I thought that you'd help me."

"Afraid I can't. I can only to Yugakure, and to be honest I shouldn't even be doing that. You could be an enemy of Yugakure after all."

Kakashi frowned. She still didn't trust him. Of course, they've only been traveling together for about a day and a half. If he wanted to gain more information about Sosei, it'd be in his best interest to get closer to her. After all, she was his only lead at the moment. He thought that the kiss on the cheek she gave him yesterday meant something. That maybe she was beginning to trust him a bit more. He was clearly wrong and pushed the feeling of disappointment away. "Are you ready to move on now?"

Nyoko shut her eyes and shook her head. "Not yet, just a little longer." She said.

Strange. "Do your eyes hurt or something?"

"It's just a bit bright today."

Kakashi didn't believe her. Today the sun felt pretty normal; it wasn't extremely sunny, nor was it extremely hot. What was the real reason her eyes were hurting? Before Kakashi could go into deep thought about this new question, he noticed a strange looking bird flying above them. It began to descend slowly. Upon closer inspection, the bird had no feathers, from what Kakashi could tell. Nyoko seemed to notice the distraction as well. "What the…" She subconsciously pulled herself closer to Kakashi.

Kakashi's eye widened. "Akari, c'mon!" He dragged her off the rock and landed on top of her just as an explosion went off.

"Obito!" Nyoko eyes were now wide with shock. "Are you okay?" She didn't expect for the strange looking bird to explode.

From what she could see from his one visible eye, he was in a state of pain, but was trying to push through it. "I'm fine. You okay?"

She nodded and got out from beneath him. She then proceeded to help him up. His back was hot from the explosion. "Your back is probably burned."

"Don't worry about it. I've experienced worst…can't think of any right now, but…."

Nyoko shook her head. "We need to get it treated. We should probably get out of here as soon as we can. We don't know who could have set that bomb off…"

"DEIDARA! WHAT THE HELL DID I SAY ABOUT FOLLOWING MY ORDERS!"

"Tenaguchi-sensei! You told us to check them out!"

"This kid is getting on my last nerves!"

In front of Nyoko and Kakashi appeared three ninja from Iwagakure. The tallest was a woman with dark brown hair, which was pulled back in a ponytail. She was obviously the oldest out of the group, the Jounin level ninja meant to watch over a team of three genin. "I sincerely apologize for the explosion my student caused just now. He's kinda new to the whole shinobi thing. Can't seem to take orders or tell the difference between our enemy and a civilian…" She sweat dropped. "…troublesome little brat…"

"I'm standing right here, un!" shouted a small blond haired boy, whose hair was pulled back in a ponytail as well. If Kakashi and Nyoko didn't know any better, they would have mistaken him for a girl.

"I guess you can't really blame him; he's just a kid after all…" Nyoko said, brushing herself off.

"Actually, I think, as a shinobi, he should be able to control his power…" Kakashi mumbled.

"The old man's gotta point." One of the other genin said. He was about twelve years old and had wild, spikey black hair. "Deidara only drags us down."

Kakashi's eye twitched. "Wait a minute, I'm not an old…"

"Hold on now," Nyoko bent over so that she could look at this genin in the eye. "If you're members of the same team, you should be supportive of each other, right?'

"Not when that member of the team is Deidara. How could he even be considered a genius? All he likes to do is blow things up." The genin crossed his arms.

"You're just jealous because I graduated from the academy earlier than you did!" Little Deidara shouted.

"Hold it Kanaru, let's not be too harsh. He is about four years younger than you after all." Their Jounin stepped in between the two. "C'mon now Sarumi, these are your teammates. Please try helping them get along."

All heads turned to the silent black haired girl, standing a bit away from the group. She was quiet for a long moment before saying, "I want nothing to do with these fools."

"Don't be such a stuck up priss!" Kanaru yelled at her.

The jounin proceeded to hitting him on the back of the head and then turned her attention to Nyoko and Kakashi. "So, so sorry. I'm Tanaguchi Miko, member of Iwagakure and the new leader to this team of genin."

Both Nyoko and Kakashi stared at the young woman in disbelief. Tanaguchi and her genin were probably one of the worst teams either of them had seen put together. Whoever was in charge of team assignments in Iwagakure wasn't doing a good job. "We'd love to stay and chat…but…we really need to go. Obito's back is burnt and…"

"Ah!" Tanaguchi stopped the two from leaving. "Don't worry! Sarumi is our team medic! I'm sure she can fix you right up, since it's only a little burn and all…"

Nyoko's still couldn't help but stare at Tanaguchi with her mouth slightly open. What was this woman thinking? "His entire back is probably burned…"

"No, no, no, Deidara caused this so…" Tanaguchi insisted.

"So Deidara should heal him." Sarumi muttered, but loud enough for everyone to hear her.

Tanaguchi glared at her student. "What the heck are you talking about! Will you just heal the poor man?"

"Listen, I really think me and Obito should just leave…" Nyoko helped him up and tried to support him as he walked.

"Honestly," Kakashi started. "It's not as bad as you're making it out to be."

"Geez, what a grumpy old man," said Kanaru.

"Hold it! I told you that I'm not an old…"

"Mah! Fine, be that way. I'm telling the on you to our kage when we get back. Come here Obito. I'll just bandage your wound for you," Tanaguchi tried to get him to sit down again. "You'll just have to take off your shirt and…"

"W-wait a minute. I **really** don't think that's necessary…" Kakashi wouldn't say it aloud, but there was no way he was going to let this Tanaguchi person try fixing him up.

"Yeah, Obito need **professional** medical attention." Nyoko emphasized on the "professional" aspect.

"Just hold yer horses! I'm perfectly professional. Does 'Jounin of Iwagakure' mean nothing to you?"

Nyoko's eyes narrowed. "Not when you obviously can't keep your genin in order and have them work together properly." Kakashi's eye twitched. Was this girl looking for a fight?

Tanaguchi smirked. "You got some guts talking to me like that."

"On second thought…maybe I'll just let Tanaguchi-san bandage my wound." Obito decided to cut in. He didn't want to start a fight with a kunochi from another village.

"O-obito, but…"

"Akari." Kakashi said with a final sort of tone. She frowned, but proceeded to let him go…which caused him to fall to the ground. "Oooff…You could have warned me…"

"Hmph."

Kanaru snickered. "The cosplayer's jealous."

Nyoko glared at the twelve year old boy. "I'm not jealous! There's nothing to be jealous about! Besides, this isn't cosplay! It's my uniform!"

"I doubt that…" whispered the girl Samuri.

"Ugh!" Nyoko grunted in frustration and began to storm off.

"W-wait, Akari! Where are you going?" Kakashi asked. He was just beginning to lift his shirt up so that Tanaguchi would have better access to the burn on his back.

"Away from here! I'll be back in a few minutes…"

"See?" Kanaru crossed his arms and had a big grin on his face. "I told you she was jealous…"

Nyoko didn't go off to far. Only about 400 meters or so down the road to where the young blond boy sat. She decided to sit down beside him. Both proceeded to sigh at the same time. "Life is so troublesome sometimes…" Nyoko pouted, staring at Tanaguchi-san, who was now bandaging Obito awkwardly. He seemed to refuse to take his shirt off all the way. She could have easily bandaged him up…if they had had bandages and whatnot. They didn't need Tanaguchi's help…

Deidara glanced up at her. "So you're jealous…"

Nyoko jumped in her spot. "Wait a minute…I'm not…"

"I wish I was like them, un."

Nyoko stared at him funny. "Like Tanaguchi-san and Obito?"

Deidara looked down at his hands. "I wish I was normal like Kanaru and Sarumi."

"What are you talking abou…" Nyoko's eyes grew slightly wide when she realized what the kid was talking about. Upon the palms of his hands were mouths. "Y-you have mouths on your hands." Deidara hid them again, obviously ashamed. "A-a-ah, I mean that…" Nyoko stuttered, realizing her mistake. "I mean that they're very unique. I've never seen anybody with hands like yours…er…what do you use them for? They must be useful for something right?" She tried sounding as nice as possible and wasn't quite sure if it was working.

Deidara hand began to move into his pouch. He then held it out in front of him and opened his palm. Resting on top of his hand was a small clay bird. "Ah! A clay bird! It's very cute…oh wait." Nyoko recalled the small bird both she and Obito saw before it exploded. "It's a bomb isn't it?"

Deidara nodded his head sadly. "Nobody else can do this and nobody really seems to appreciate it…."

"Ehhh?" Nyoko grinned. "You're name's Deidara right kid?"

He nodded.

"Alright then, go on and send that little bird to the clearing over there. Make it explode."

He stared up at her like she was crazy. "I can't do that! Tanaguchi-sensei will…"

"Go ahead and do it." She gave him a little nudge and he nodded. The bird flew into the air, exploding soon after. Red and yellow light could be seen brightly, even though it was day time. "Do you know what explosives are like, Deidara-kun?" He shook his blond head no. "They're like stars in the night sky, but more beautiful because you can see them in the day as well as at night. When you create bombs and explosions, it's like creating art. The small creatures you make are art and then they go into a second stage of beauty when they explode. It' not something other people understand very easily…as long as you're proud of the way you fight, of your explosives, and of the special features that make you who you are, then I think you'll make a great ninja."

Deidara stared up at him with big blue eyes. "Miss…you're kinda strange." Nyoko sweat dropped. She thought what she was saying was pretty positive and somewhat motivating. "Thank you, un." He muttered.

"Ah…" Nyoko now stared down at him. "You're…too cute~!" Nyoko squealed and proceeded to suffocate him.

"AH! Lemme go, un!"

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><p>"There all done." Tanaguchi said, sitting back to admire her work.<p>

"Finally," Kakashi thanked God silently. "Thank you, Tanaguchi-san."

"It was no problem. All right you maggots time to hit the road again!" She shouted for her three genin. Both Sarumi and Kanaru ran up to her. "Where's Deidara?"

Kanaru and Sarumi both pointed behind them at the two figures running around.

"Come here, Deidara-kun!" Nyoko shouted.

"Get away from me!" He shouted back, but a smile on his face all the while.

"Hm…I don't think I've ever seen him smile that before." Tanaguchi noted.

Kakashi, however, was more focused on Nyoko. The grin on her face was pure and true; unlike the smiles he'd seen her give him. He smiled to himself. "Yeah, I haven't seen her like that before either."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm pretty sure it's been more than a month since my last update...I'm sorry! I've been busy and I kept getting new ideas for new fanfiction that would not get out of my head. **

**Anyways...it is implied that there is sex in this chapter...but I find it to be very subtle so I'm not changing the rating. Reviews would be lovely. I hope you like the chapter.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

**A Black Tattoo**

The two of them, Kakashi and Nyoko, had travelled the rest of the day, along with Tanaguchi and her team of genin. Kakashi couldn't help but notice how well Akari seemed to get along with the younger ninjas. For some reason, she didn't seem like the type of person who would get along with kids well. Kakashi imagined that she would have been the type trying desperately and unsuccessfully keeping them under control. He couldn't help but snort at the thought.

The six of them had just entered a small town. The entire town was decorated and there were many of the townspeople scurrying around. "Looks like there's a festival today." Tanaguchi commented.

Kanaru's eyes grew wide. "We have to go!"

Tanaguchi promptly hit him, on the top of the head. "I don't think so. We're only staying for the night here. We need to get moving in the morning, so no playing tonight."

"Awww, but everyone else wants to go too! Right guys?" He turned to his two team mates.

Sarumi looked away and nodded, as though embarrassed she actually wanted to go. Deidara, on the other hand, wasn't as quiet about it. "I don't want to go, un." He stated bluntly.

"Why not!" Kanaru yelled his eyes practically on fire. He prepared himself to give Deidara a good punch to the face, but Tanaguchi stopped him. "See Kanaru? Deidara knows what's good for him and he's younger than you!"

Nyoko looked down at Deidara. "Why don't you want to go? I'm sure it'll be lots of fun! You get to play games for prizes…"

"…catch gold fish…" Kanaru added.

"…eats lots of food…" listed Nyoko.

"…like yakitori or takoyaki!" Kanaru shouted with glee.

"…and I'm sure they have drummers and other performers…"

"And maybe they'll have a dragon there too!" Kanaru continued.

"And of course, they'll definitely have fireworks too!" Nyoko concluded happily. "Obito, we should go too!"

Kakashi stared at her incredulously. "You're joking. Don't you need to get to your father as soon as possible."

"Yes, but you're afraid of camping outside and the next town, and therefore hotel, isn't for another 10 or more miles."

His eye twitched ever so slightly. "I'm not afraid of camping outside…"

"Right…" Nyoko rolled her eyes and turned back to Deidara. "So what do ya say Deidara? Wanna go to the festival together?" Deidara stared back and her before nodding.

"See Tanaguchi-sensei? You're outnumbered!" Kanaru shouted in triumph.

"Chirst…this is **your** fault you know." The jounin pointed at Nyoko, who avoided her eye contact. "Alright, we'll check into a hotel and then come out in a couple of hours. The festival won't start until sundown anyways…"

Deidara glanced up at his teacher. "We're going to meet up with Akari-san later right, un?"

"Yeah, yeah, listen up you two. Meet up here in…2 hours or so." She ordered.

Kakashi sweat dropped. "Or we could all just check into the same hotel?"

"Who do ya think is calling the shots here buddy? Let's go find a hotel!" Tanaguchi led the way as the rest followed, weary of her apparent bad mood.

Tanaguchi and her students went up to the front desk and got two rooms for them, one for Kanaru and Deidara, and another for Tanaguchi and Sarumi. "Now listen up you two, specifically Kanaru. You better not start arguing or fighting again." Tanaguchi started. "If I have to pay for hotel rooms again, I swear I'm going to…"

"Don't worry Tanaguchi-sensei! We'll be good! Right Deidara?" Kanaru had thrown an arm around Deidara's shoulders, leaving the poor boy horrified and speechless.

Their teacher frowned. "Uh-huh…" They all went upstairs as Kakashi and Nyoko moved up to the front desk to get their room.

Nyoko put some money on the desk. "We'd like to get one room please."

The man behind the counter took the money and gave her a key. "You two are lucky. That's the last room we have. People from the countryside are coming into town for the three day festival. Tonight's the first night."

"I see, well thank you very much." Nyoko smiled, before leaving to go up to the room. Fitting the key into the keyhole, Nyoko swung open the door to reveal one huge problem.

"Akari," Kakashi said slowly. "This room…only has one bed."

Her eye twitched. "I can see that."

"We should probably go see if they can give us another…"

She shook her head. "It's impossible to get another room. The man said this one was the last one available, remember?"

"Well, then I can rest on that chair and you can have the…"

"No! Absolutely not!" Nyoko shouted, alarming Kakashi. "**You're** going to rest on the bed."

"I don't really think it's that big of a deal…OW!" Nyoko had pushed Kakashi onto the bed and pulled the covers over him. "Don't treat the injured so roughly." He complained, but Nyoko ignored him and tried making herself comfortable on the couch. "Honestly, I think there's room for two."

"Honestly, I think the injured should shut up and sleep."

Kakashi couldn't believe it. She was one of the most forward, flirty women he had ever met and she wasn't taking advantage of this situation? "Are you sick or something?"

"I told you to shut it…" Nyoko yawned.

He knew that he hadn't known her for a very long time, but if he didn't know any better, she was acting shy. He couldn't help, but chortle silently with glee. He couldn't believe that he was making her shy. It felt like an odd sort of victory for him. He later mentally slapped himself for thinking like a school boy and silently crept out of the bed. He walked up to her sleeping form. Her breathing sounded deep and heavy. He was very sure she was dead asleep now. He brushed some of her purple hair out of her face, before lifting her up, with a bit of difficulty, and placing her on the bed. She muttered something incomprehensible, before rolling over.

Kakashi admitted that he was a bit lost. He wasn't even sure what he was doing anymore or if he was on the right track to complete his mission: finding more information about Sosei. He supposed that he was feeling a bit unsure of himself, simply because it was taking a while to get to Yugakure, or at least longer than he anticipated. Of course, this was because Akari was a civilian, or at least she claimed to be. Although he knew that she should be wary, he found himself thinking that she was actually a good person. She cared for that one child in that team of genin from Iwagakure and he insisted that he take the bed due to his injuries and she seemed grateful when he protected her from the bomb and from those two robbers they bumped into near the beginning of their journey. He couldn't stop himself from blushing slightly at the memory. No one had been so bold to kiss Kakashi on the kiss like she did. It was even stranger, seeing that they hadn't even known each other for that long. Could it possibly be that Akari actually liked…?

He shook his head at the thought.

"ARGH!" Kakashi woke up startled at the loud scream and thud he heard. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, he looked down next to the bed. "Akari, what are you doing?"

"What am I doing? How did I end up in the bed? I swore I fell asleep on the couch."

Kakashi rubbed his chin. "Hmmm, I wonder…maybe you sleep walk?"

"Ha ha, very funny. You didn't try anything with me right? No perverted nonsense?"

Kakashi felt heat rise up to his cheeks. "N-no."

"UFFF." Nyoko leapt up and straddled him, before he could move anywhere. "Good, because if anyone will be doing nonsense like that, then it'll be me."

Kakashi couldn't believe he thought this girl was actually shy a couple of hours ago. Thankfully, a loud knocking, on the door, made Nyoko climb off him and answer it. "Akari-san…" It was little Deidara from before. "We're going to be going now…" he said quietly, as though he was a bit unsure of himself.

"I just got up now, Deidara-kun. As you can see, the old man is still a bit sleepy…" She pointed back at Kakashi.

"Hey Old Man!" Deidara shouted. "Get up! We're leaving now, un!"

Nyoko stared at the kid with wide eyes, before squealing, "So cute!" and attacking him with a hug. Needless to say, Kakashi was less amused with the** little brat.**

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><p>There were many people out that night. The large crowds created much noise as people chatted with one another excitedly. Many of the younger children dashed this way and that, avoiding adults, while adults gravitated towards food and crafts stalls. The aroma freshly made festival foods were enough to make anyone drool with on whiff and Kakshi was partially glad that he decided to go. He hadn't been in such a pleasant atmosphere in quite some time.<p>

"Akari-san, they have goldfish." Deidara pointed to the goldfish scooping stall.

"Ha ha! I'll catch a goldfish easily!" Kanaru shouted and raced over to the stall. It only took him two tries to realize that scooping goldfish was harder than he thought. "What the heck! Why is this so hard!" The ever so quiet Sarumi stifled a giggle. "Well, if it's so funny, then why don't **you** try it?"

It seemed that Sarumi couldn't successfully catch a goldfish either. "What kind of genin are you? Unable to catch a single goldfish?" Nyoko chuckled.

Kanaru handed the paper goldfish scooper to Nyoko. "The **you** give it a go."

Nyoko swiped the scooper from his hand. "I will and unlike you I will also succeed."

She crouched down beside the small pool of goldfish, happily swimming around. "The key to this is to let the scooper hover above the water for a minute so the fish can sense it and get used to its presence…" Nyoko held her hand extremely steady above the pool of water as the three genin watched with anticipation. "…then, when they go back to swimming around, you…go in for the kill!" She dove her hand into the pool causing a large splash.

"Ta-da!" She held out the scooper with a goldfish in it.

Tanguchi sweat-dropped. "That really shouldn't have worked."

Nyoko grinned cheekily at the three kids, with her new prize in a bag of water. "Aren't I amazing? Tell me I'm amazing."

"Hey Amazing, where are you going to put the fish? It's not like you live in this town or anything; it'll probably die by the time you get to Yugakure." Kakashi pointed out.

"Ack! You're right!" Nyoko realized. She gave the bag to Deidara. "Here you take it."

"Really, un?" Deidara was surprised she gave it to him.

Tanaguchi shook her head. "We still have a long ways until we're back in Iwagakure, so you can't keep the fish Deidara."

"Well, what are we supposed to with the fish?" Nyoko asked. "I just wasted my money on that thing. There's no way I'm going to throw it away or anything."

"We could try eating it!" Kanaru suggested.

Nyoko recoiled. "That can't be good. Wouldn't it be considered bad luck to eat one?"

"I think you're talking about koi fish…" Sarumi murmured.

Kakashi sighed. "Or we can just give it to a random stranger…"

"Ah! Good idea Obito." Nyoko then raised the fish in the air. "Who wants a gold fish!" She began to wave the bag around.

Kakashi yanked her hand down. "You know what? I think it'd be best to just give the fish back." Kakashi took the bag and gave it back to the vender.

"Obito look!" Nyoko shouted. "They have a sake drinking contest."

He gave her a questioning look. "Aren't you under-age?"

"That's beside the point. I'll have you know I can hold my liquor very well."

"We're with a bunch of children."

"It's not like they're my children." She mumbled.

"Nyoko-san…I don't mind watching you win the drinking contest, un." Deidara looked up at her.

"Yeah! I wanna watch her drink until she drops!" Kanaru shouted in agreement.

Kakashi sweat dropped and turned towards Tanaguchi. "What on Earth are you teaching these kids?"

"I'm not responsible for **everything** they say and do!" She defended.

The rest of the night sort of went downhill from there. On the bright side, Nyoko won the drinking contest. On the down side, she won 10 bottles of sake. On the bright side, she was still able to walk around and enjoy the rest of the festival. On the down side, she was slightly tipsy and some of the things she said made no sense whatsoever. On the bright side, Tanguchi and her genin didn't mind at all and found it amusing. On the down side, it was Kakashi who had to share a hotel room with her.

"Alright, I think it's time to call it a night." Kakashi had pushed Nyoko off him for the ump-tenth time.

"But the fireworks haven't even gone off yet." Kanaru whined.

"You all can stay out, but I'm pretty sure Akari has reached her limit." Kakashi looked over to his right arm, which Nyoko was holding onto.

"I wanna watch the fireworks. They sparkle in the sky, Obito. Sparkle…sparkle…" Nyoko was in a dazed state.

Kakashi began leading her back to the hotel. "No, it's time to go. It was nice meeting you all."

"It was nice meeting everyone! You all are so sweet, even you Ka-na-ru." Nyoko called back, Kakashi still tugging on her. "I'm sure we'll meet again soon."

"Promise!" Deidara shouted back.

"Of course!" She gave a sort of salute, before clinging back onto Kakashi's arm. "I drank so much tonight…and I still have all this sake left."

"You shouldn't be drinking at all." Kakashi muttered, cursing himself silently for not stopping her.

"You should drink some of it with me or else we're **both **going to have to carry it all the way to Yu no Kuni."

"Just give it away or something."

"Are you crazy! You already made me give up my gold fish and now you want me to give up my sake! What? Do you have a weak tolerance for it or somethin'?"

"I can hold my alcohol just fine. I just think that…"

"Then just drink one bottle. Surely you can handle one bottle right?" She said, persuading him.

When they got back to the hotel room, one bottle turned into another bottle and another and another, until the night transformed from a night of drinking into a night of ecstasy, with the sound of fireworks going off outside.

Nyoko woke up the next morning with a killer headache and a great surprise. Never mind that Obito's mask was off, revealing his handsome face. She was more focused on the black tattoo on his upper left arm. A black swirly tattoo, in other words, it was the tattoo associated with the Konoha ANBU.


	6. Chapter 6

**I'M SORRY FOR POSTING THE WRONG CHAPTER! I totally uploaded the right chapter, but I updated this story with a chapter from another story. Lol. Thanks to all for pointing it out.  
><strong>

**A/N: It's been a little more than a month, but here's the next chapter. I've been busy trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my life and lemme tell ya...it hasn't been easy. Anyways, this marks the half-way point in my story. Not sure how many more chapters will be left to go...probably...at most four...I can't see myself writing more than five more chapters...so yeah.**

**I hope you like the chapter and please leave a review!**

**Hidan is eleven years old in this story. (Seven years younger than Nyoko and Kakashi) **

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><p><strong>Chapter Six<strong>

**The Second Farewell**

Her mind was whirling at about one million thoughts per second. What on Earth should she do now? He was sleeping, so she could kill him right now with ease, but what if he woke up? Then they would have a battle…in the middle of a hotel room. The room wasn't big enough for her to use her explosives. If she wanted to have a good chance at winning a fight against him, then she would need to put distance in between herself and him. She could always make a run for it now, but was he even really asleep? Maybe he was only pretending to sleep, and would tackle her to the ground the moment he sensed her leave the room. Maybe she could pretend that she didn't see his tattoo, but how could she possibly miss it? She could just ask him about it? But then he would know that she knew he was a member of ANBU and then he'd become very defensive and suspicious. That would make things more complicated than they already were.

She gazed down at the sleeping man beside her and her heart clenched. The soft, handsome face she saw belonged to the man she made loved to only a few hours ago, but that man wasn't real. That man didn't exist. It was all pretend. Everything Obito said and did was for the sake of his mission, which could only be to find out more about Sosei. Nyoko had no other explanation or idea why an ANBU would be traveling with her. Of course, this meant that this man was one the ANBU that entered the bar she had been working at with Akiyo. She could easily tell that he was the older of the two, the one with the fox mask, the one that went by the codename "Kuwa". Water began to swell up in her eyes and she quickly shut them to keep the water from spilling. She wouldn't cry. She knew that it was possible that Obito was a member of ANBU, but the past few days she knew she felt she didn't want it to be true. It was only a few days she had spent time with him, and yet she felt this way, almost heartbroken. When she thought of how he told her to run and tried to fight the two robbers alone or the time he willingly shield her from Deidara's exploding bird, she couldn't help but hope that he did care for her to a certain extent. The only person she felt really cared for her was Yoru-sama, but even he seemed rather distant lately. His plans have been going smoothly and with each day Sosei grew more powerful she felt that was moving farther away from her.

Nyoko lay back down beside Obito, ignoring the pounding sensation in her head. She curled up next to him, and it was then when she noticed the scar across his left eye. He must be a ninja. How else would he get such a scar? Nyoko sighed and tried to slip back into unconsciousness. Even though Obito slept beside her, she had never felt as alone as she did then. So she'll pretend it wasn't true, until they got to Yu no Kuni.

Kakashi groaned a bit, before rolling over in his sleep. It was then he realized that something was beneath him, something soft and warm. His eyes slowly parted to see Akari sleeping curled up beneath him…naked. He jolted up in shock and in terror. They didn't…they didn't…did they…? He checked beneath the covers…praying that he was still wearing some sort of clothing down there. He was not very surprised to see nothing there and a feeling of dread grew in his stomach. What if she got pregnant? He was pretty freaking sure he didn't use protection…what would he do if she got pregnant? What more…Kakashi had done…well…**it** with the possible enemy. Enemy? He glanced down at Akari, who seemed to still be sleeping. She may have been a bit nosy and overly-flirtatious, but she was a kind person. She put him before herself when he was injured, and she seemed to like children; of course, that didn't mean that she wasn't a part of Sosei. There was still the possibility she was pretending, that everything she had done up to this point was simply part of an act, even though it pained him to admit it.

He sighed. She was still practically a stranger. How long had they traveled together? A mere three or four days? Then again, he heard that some people fall in love at first sight…he furiously shook his head. He knew nothing about love and to even think for a second he felt such a thing seemed too ridiculous of a thought. Yawning, he rubbed his eyes…his mask…it wasn't on his face. He leapt out of the bed, and began frantically searching for it, along with his eye patch, not to mention his clothing. If she saw his left eye…if she saw his tattoo, then he could ruin his entire operation. Shirt, pants, mask, eye patch…his eyes scanned the room searching for the small accessory to see a black string winding out from beneath Akari. Kakashi couldn't believe his luck and cursed fate further when Akari began to stir.

Nyoko had been drifting in and out of consciousness, but became fully awake when she felt Obito roll on top of her. She waited a moment to see if he'd return to sleep, and was a bit alarmed when he practically shot out of bed. She mustn't wake up yet. She had to wait for him to wake him up, or at least get dressed so she wouldn't be able to see his tattoo. Surely enough, Obito got out of bed and she heard him quickly moving about the room. No doubt he was looking for his clothes. However, when the noise of hustling and bustling ceased; she became curious. Why had he stopped moving? Did he finish changing? If he did, she could hardly expect him to simply stand there until she woke up. Her short patience got the best of her as she slowly sat up, trying to look as natural as possible. She looked to her side as if to see Obito was still there, even though she knew he wasn't, and then looked up to see him standing fully dressed except for his eye patch.

"You look rather funny with one eye closed." She giggled.

"I can't open it anymore." Kakashi lied.

Nyoko raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's too bad. What happened?"

Kakashi looked away as Nyoko sighed. "Fine, don't tell me." She moved to get out of bed, only for Kakashi to yell. "Put some clothes on first!"

"You already saw everything last night…unless you were too drunk to remember." She laughed. "If it bothers you so much, then gather my clothes for me. You can start with my panties, then my bra next…"

Kakashi closed his eyes shut. "There. Now hurry up and get dressed."

This guy was unbelievable. Nyoko snorted, but regardless went about picking up her clothes and putting them on. "Alright, you can open your eyes now." As soon as Kakashi opened his eyes, he was surprised with a peck on his cheek. "Thank you for closing them, but it was a bit unnecessary."

"Yeah…" He avoided looking at her with his one good eye.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, seemingly innocent.

"It's nothing." Kakashi muttered, swiftly side-stepped around her and snatched up his eye patch from the bed. "Shouldn't we be going?"

Nyoko frowned. "Can't I at least shower first?"

"Well…yeah…"

"You can join me if you'd like." She smirked, and went on ahead as Kakashi furiously shook his head no. Shrugging her shoulders, she slipped into the bathroom without another word. Kakashi heard the water start and something else…singing. Or was it humming? He wasn't quite sure. He felt as though he wasn't quite sure of many things anymore. All he knew was that the sooner he got to Yu no Kuni the closer he would be to completing his mission. "Hurry up Akari," he yelled over the sound of the running water. "I need to take a shower too."

He frowned, when he heard her laugh. "Then you should have just taken a shower with me. I'll be taking my sweet time, thank you very much."

Kakashi sighed, taking a seat in one of the room's chairs. Regret, this was what he was feeling. He could have easily trailed her from the beginning, instead he chose to himself to her, just in case she did sense him following her and got away. However, if he had trailed her from the beginning, then maybe he wouldn't have found himself in the situation he was in now.

The rest of their journey was uncomfortably quiet, at least for Kakashi it was. As far as he was concerned, Akari was absolutely fine. She walked beside him with a sort of smile or her face. Sometimes she'd make an amusing comment whenever they passed another traveler or a funny looking tree or rock. Although she made her side remarks, they didn't evolve into any sort of conversation between the two and Kakashi admitted that it was partially his own fault. He just wasn't sure what to say to her anymore; in fear she may know his true identity, so he decided it would be best to stay quiet. Besides, Akari didn't seem to mind. She had accepted the fact that her travelling companion was secretive.

Kakashi jolted when he felt something hold onto his hand, snapping him out of his deep thoughts. He looked down and his heart rate calmed a bit when he realized it was only Akari's hand. "What are you doing?"

"We've almost arrived at Yu no Kuni. We passed the large pointy walk a couple moments ago, so that means we're close."

"Oh…how much longer is going to take from here?"

She shrugged. "We should get to the village by nightfall…but I'm still unsure if I should be taking you there or not. You're not a citizen of the village after all."

"Well…" Kakashi's mind whirled for a way for her to take him into Yugakure without suspicion. "You could say I'm your brother or something…"

"I guess I could…" she shrugged again, her voice sounding distant. Then she laughed softly. "…then again we look nothing alike."

He sweat-dropped. "I guess you have a point there." He chuckled awkwardly. "So why are you holding my hand?"

"Because I feel like it." She said, smiling back at him. "Do I need some other reason?"

"No…" Kakashi did nothing to separate their hands, and this made Nyoko slightly nervous, although she did well not to show it.

"HEY! EGGPLANT!"

Nyoko's eyes grew wide when she saw a familiar small figure appear right before her eyes. He was shorter than she was, had wild white hair, pinkish-violet eyes and a rather loud mouth. "Hidan!"

"I've been looking everywhere for you! Ya know how hard it is to look for a person, when Enmaru-sama doesn't let ya go outside the country!"

Kakashi looked over at Nyoko. "Who's Enmaru?"

"My father…" She said quickly, releasing his hand and rushing over to the boy named Hidan.

"You found me…so please keep your big mouth shut okay?" She said with a sickly sick voice.

Hidan frowned. "Stop tellin' me what to do Egghead! Just because Enmaru-sama likes you most doesn't mean you can push me around! You watch! I'm totally gonna kick your ass one day!"

Nyoko pulled on Hidan's ear. "What did I say about cursing Hidan!"

"What are you my bloody mother! Lemme go!" Hidan shoved Nyoko off and looked over at Kakashi. "Who's gray-top over there? Is he going to…"

Nyoko slapped her hand over his mouth. "He is not going to do anything." She looked up at Kakashi. "I'm sorry Obito, but I won't be able to escort you to Yugakure. I need to take Hidan home first."

Hidan licked the inside of Nyoko's hand, causing her to shriek and pull her hand away. "But isn't home in Yugakure?" Nyoko stomped on Hidan's foot. "YEOWCH! What the hell was that for!"

"Akari…" Kakashi was now growing suspicious and took a step forward.

Nyoko put her arms around Hidan and took a step back. "Hidan…Enmaru-sama didn't send you to look for me by yourself right?"

"Knowing that old man…probably not!" Hidan yelled. "I'm not weak, Nyoko!"

Kakashi's eyes widened and Nyoko sighed, before smiling down at Hidan. "I know you're not Hidan."

Kakashi dashed forward, in attempt to grab Nyoko. She swiftly jumped over to avoid him, while carrying Hidan as well. She quickly turned around and whispered. "Kumorigan." Her eyes now held a black web-like pattern in them.

"Nyoko-sama!" Three shinobi, cladded in black clothing, landed in front of her.

She glared. "About time you three came out of hiding. The man behind you is Kuwa, a member of Konoha's ANBU. I better not see his face again…then again…I never did get to see his face."

Hidan's eyes were wide. "Oi, Nyoko…"

"Shut it Hidan. We'll be taking our leave now." She grinned at Kakashi. "Goodbye Obito."

This was her second farewell.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: The end is near. Only one chapter left (maybe two depending) I think I'll be able to finish this story before the end of the year. ^^ The next chapter will be hardest to write because well...I can't give it away. ;) so please review and tell me what you think.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Seven<strong>

**The Calm Before the Storm**

"I'm very disappointed in you." The male voice stated plainly, with no emotion at all attached to it.

"I apologize deeply Enmaru-sama."

"Because of you all my plans are going to have to be put on hold. You're lucky that Akiyo is very competent. I received his warning about a day after he sent it."

"I'm very grateful for a servant like him." Nyoko muttered, her head faced down so she would have to look at the man in the eyes.

"I just wonder…why did it take him only a day to return and you almost four? Have you become incompetent?"

She shook her head furiously. "Of course not Enmaru-sama."

"Then tell me what took you so long. Hidan mentioned a man was with you. What is this treachery?"

Nyoko couldn't believe that she was furiously blinking back tears. "I feared that the man was a member of Konoha ANBU. He had asked to travel with me to Yugakure, saying he wanted to join Sosei. I thought that if I refused, he would become suspicious of me. So I…"

"So you allowed him to travel with you?" Enmaru snapped. All void of emotion dispersed in a flash and anger was evident in his black, soulless eyes. "You could have defeated the man easily!"

"My fighting style is long distance…he was obviously more of a close distance fighter, so if he were to get close to me, he could have easily overpowered me!"

Enmaru stood from his seat. "Do not make excuses! I did not raise you to be so pathetic!" Nyoko choked back a sob and cursed herself. To cry in front of Enmaru-sama would be like asking him to kill her, especially if he was in such a terrible mood as this. Enmaru glared down at her, before sitting down in his chair again. "Come here Nyoko." He ordered, but she was too afraid to move, in fear of what he might do when she got to him. "NOW!"

Slowly, step by step, she walked up to the powerful man. Her hands, by her sides, shook with each step she took. "Enmaru-sama…"

"Shush. Now kneel before me." She swallowed and then knelt before him. He outreached his hand; she immediately flinched back, causing him to frown. "I'm not going to hurt you." He said, his voice now noticeably calmer. Nyoko looked up at him. He could still see slight fear in her eyes. His fingertips grazed over her cheeks, before he said. "Beg me for forgiveness."

She broke down crying and sobbed into his lap. "I'm so sorry Enmaru-sama, please forgive. I'm so sorry. I'm so worthless. I…I…"

Enmaru couldn't bear to watch it anymore. It had always made him sick to his stomach to see a woman cry. "Stop." Nyoko held her breath to keep from sobbing, but she only struggled and made small gasping noises instead. Enmaru lifted her up, so that she was placed comfortably on his lap. He leaned in toward her and placed a ghost of a kiss atop her forehead. "You are forgiven." Nyoko automatically leaned into his body, clinging closely to him. Enmaru began to pet her head slowly. "Nyoko, tomorrow we're going to launch an attack on Konohagakure. I've discovered its location and have developed a strategic plan for victory. In the north, south, east and west of fire country, I'm going to have some of our men launch terrorist attacks on the largest towns of fire country in those locations. The leaf ninja will then be distracted by all the destruction happening across fire country and so I will lead our main force into Konohagakure."

Nyoko nodded obediently. "I shall fight valiantly by your side Enmaru-sama."

He shook his head. "No, Nyoko. I want you to set destruction among the southern part of fire country, near the seaports and villages. This way we can almost every amount of trade fire country gets by sea. Your abilities allow you to set off multiple explosives at once at many different areas at once. Destroying the southern part of the country is without a doubt one of the most important parts of this operation and I can only entrust it to you. Do you understand Nyoko?"

She was in a bit of shock. She thought he would have wanted her near him. She thought he would have wanted her by his side, but he was sending her on another mission again? "But Enmaru-sama…"

"No 'buts'…"

She shook her head. "I don't want to leave your side." She cried into his shoulder. "Please, I don't want anyone else. Please, don't push me away…I…"

"Nyoko." He frowned at her and she abruptly stopped speaking. Enmaru tilted her face up by her chin. "Tell me. What are you?"

Nyoko took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and recited the words Enmaru had drilled into her skull since he had found her. "I am strong. I am intelligent. I am powerful and I am…"

"…beautiful." He began to kiss her tears away. Since the day he found her, something melted in his heart. Despite his plans for domination, she had found a way to fit into his desires. She was ten years his junior and no longer a child. At eleven she began to join his men and women on more dangerous missions. At fourteen she began to use sexual appeal to obtain valuable information. At sixteen she began to actually sleep with the random men, but in his mind she was still pure. Strangers didn't get to see her like this, so broken and vulnerable. Over the years she developed a need to do whatever she needed to please him. It had become the reason of her being, because in her eyes, he was her eternal savior and he didn't mind.

In fact he welcomed it, because it only meant he could become closer to her. However, he never stepped out of his "father/savior"-like persona. He did nothing to her that would violate her. He did nothing more than holding her, embracing her, nothing more than innocent kisses on her head or cheeks. He brushed some of her violet hued hair from her slightly red face. "Nyoko…"

If only he could tell her…

"Nyoko…you are beautiful."

…how much he loved her.

Nyoko said nothing. She had heard him say those words multiple of times before. All she could do was hug him once more. He still cared for her deeply and Nyoko knew he always will. She felt him kiss her on top of her head again, before he spoke. "You should get some sleep. You'll need your rest; planting all your explosive tags won't be any easy task."

"Yes, Enmaru-sama." She got out of his lap, gave a bow and left the room.

A chuckled erupted from the dark back corner of the room. Out from the shadows walked a pale man with long black hair. "To think you had such a heartfelt side to you, Enmaru."

"Shut it, Orochimaru."

"The girl seemed very distraught." Orochimaru pointed out with a smile. "She didn't even notice my presence the entire time."

"She doesn't notice much of anything else when her attention is on me like that," Enmaru said offhandedly. "And Hidan for that matter."

Orochimaru chuckled. "You sound jealous of Hidan. He is only what? Eight years old?" Enmaru said nothing to the snake-like man and stood from his chair to also leave the room. "If her powers are as magnificent as you say, then wouldn't it be better to have her set fire surrounding Konohagakure itself?"

"I don't want her near Konoha when we invade it."

Orochimaru frowned. "If you fail, then I won't uphold my end of the deal. I won't teach you the 'Soul Transfer Techin…" Orochimaru's voice trailed off, because he finally realized the true reason Enmaru wished to learn the technique in the first place. He found himself chuckling once more. "The foolish things people do for the people they love."

Meanwhile, Nyoko sighed to herself as she walked down the hall to her room. Her feelings were a mess. She was a mess. Enmaru had been so angry at her, and yet in the end he forgave her. She didn't deserve it. She had failed. She absolutely had to complete tomorrow's mission no matter what…but what if…what if she ran into Kuwa again? Could she be able to kill him to please Enmaru? The immediate answer was "Yes, of course", but a string in her heart tugged persistently. She clenched a hand to her chest; it almost felt painful.

"SURPRISE ATTACK!"

A shout exploded from behind her and someone rammed into her back. "Oof! Hidan! What are you doing?"

The young boy glared up at her. "What the hell is wrong with you! You usually dodge!"

She crouched down to flick him on the nose. "What did I say about cussing?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" He examined her face a moment, before saying. "You've been crying again haven't you? Was Enmaru-sama really that bad?" His voice was no longer defiant and sounded a wee bit concerned.

"I'm alright now Hidan," She smiled weakly, but frowned when he opened his arms wide. "What on Earth are you doing?"

"Just this once, I'm letting you hug me…you want to smother me like you always do right? I'll let you do it just this once, cause Enmaru made you cry."

Nyoko found herself smiling again and enveloped Hidan with the largest hug she could possibly manage. "You're too sweet Hidan."

"Crazy lady! At least let me breathe!" He pushed her away a bit to take a breath of air. "Hey…you're not supposed to start crying when you hug someone."

She hastily wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so happy I have you Hidan."

Hidan pouted. "Enmaru is a jerk for making you cry. He should die in a fucking hole."

"Don't say that," She frowned. "Enmaru-sama is wonderful for allowing you to stay here with me."

"He lets me stay here, because you asked him to…" Hidan mumbled.

Nyoko brushed some of his hair out of his eyes. "You really need to do something about your hair. This is ridiculous. How on earth can you see anything?"

"There's nothing wrong with my hair! It's wild and crazy and makes me look like a bad-ass!"

Nyoko pinched his cheeks and began tugging on them. "What did I say about cursing?"

"Wah…I'm sowweeeee…"

She released him and kissed him atop the head, before he could move. "I have to go on another mission tomorrow morning, until then I want you to stay inside your apartment."

"But why!" He shouted.

"I don't want anything bad to happen to you. The only time you can leave your apartment is when you're going to the academy. The leaf ninja I was with saw you. No doubt he'll recognize you. I just want you to be safe."

Hidan pouted. "Okay, okay. I get it. You'll come back soon right?"

"If things go well…I'll come back as soon as I can, but remember Hidan. There's always that chance I won't…"

Hidan shook his head furiously. "If you don't come back, I'll hate you forever!"

She smiled lightly and ruffled up his hair. "Stop being so childish…but if that's the case, then I'll definitely come back."

* * *

><p>Kakashi held a kunai to the man's neck. "P-please have mercy."<p>

"Tell me. Where's Sosei located? What are they up to?"

"I-I can't tell you where our Leader is. Nobody in the organization ever knows his exact location, unless he seeks us out to give us instructions. The only person who knows is Nyoko-sama."

"Then tell me. What Sosei's goal?"

"W-w-well, we just received word that Konoha has been taking out our recruitment centers. So we're going to attack Konoha in the morning. Leader said we we're going to create distractions all over fire country and create utter chaos. He said it was going to be the key to Konoha's fall."

Kakakshi shook the man. "And the girl? What about Nyoko?"

"Naturally she'll be by our Leader's side. She is his favorite, but I've heard rumors that she won't take part in the main attack. One of the higher ups said she was going to bomb the seaports and villages in the south…" Rage couldn't even describe what he was feeling. He knew there was a chance that Akari, or should he say Nyoko, could have been part of Sosei, but when she finally came to betray him… "O-o-o," the man stuttered. "Aren't you going to lemme go?"

"Of course not." Kakashi said coldly, before slitting the man's throat and throwing him back on the ground.

With multiple hand signs and a poof of smoke, a small dog appeared before Kakashi. The brown dog looked at the three dead bodies. "What happened?"

"It doesn't matter now. Rush back to Konoha and alert the Hokage that there will be a surprise attack on Konoha tomorrow. Mention that there will be multiple terrorist attacks on towns throughout fire country as well."

"Shouldn't you do that? It sounds really important…"

"No...I have somewhere else I need to get to."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: U mad? Thank you for everyone who have stuck with this story to the end. **

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><p><strong>Chapter Eight<strong>

**The Third Farewell**

Nyoko rushed as fast as she could back to the open plain by the cliff. She hadn't expected someone to find her so quickly. She began to thank God that she hadn't gone too far from the last town. That meant her last bomb deposit was nearby. If she could make it there before her pursuer caught her, then victory would be hers.

She skidded to a stop and whirled around just in time to block a punch. Her eyes widened slightly at her attacker, but her momentary look of shock was quickly replaced with a smirk. "Well, well Masked Stranger…I can honestly say that I'm a bit surprised that you're the one following me."

"I don't see why that's much of a surprise." Kakashi frowned behind his fox mask. "I had been following you all this time."

Nyoko flipped away backwards and stood with her arms crossed, while shaking her head. "To think those three allowed you to live. Pathetic." She spat. "I'll have to send word to Enmaru-sama about their incompetence."

"I agree…one of them provided me with valuable information involving the attack on Konoha today."

She snarled. "It doesn't matter if Konoha knows about it or not. Enmaru will remain victorious. He has huge numbers behind him."

"I doubt it. Not if his followers are as skilled as the three men I killed yesterday."

Nyoko threw a few shuriken and kunai at him, which he predictably dodged. She then moved in, trying to land a hit on him at the same time, but he blocked timely and pushed her away.

Kakashi kept a defensive stance before speaking. "What I don't understand is why you of all people are here of all places. Aren't you Enmaru's "favorite" member? Why would he send someone like you away from the main action? I would think it'd be faster to take over Konoha with you there."

Kakashi noticed her flinch and knew he had hit a nerve. "I don't know what Enmaru-sama is thinking and I don't need to. As long as I follow his orders then everything will be fine." With that she charged forward to attack, instigating a series of punches, kicks and blocks with Kakashi. A punch came out of nowhere, knocking Nyoko to the ground. A clone. "Two against one? How unfair." She laughed. "Tell me Stranger, why the hell is a ANBU chasing after **me** when he has his village to protect? Does my life even measure to the number of innocent ones in your village? Every second you spend with me, could result in the more innocent casualties back at Konoha."

"Somebody had to stop you harming the civilians in the southern towns."

She laughed again. "You think you can stop me? Haven't you noticed that I haven't bombed a single village or port, even though I have been jumping from town to town all day? Now tell me? Why would I go from town to town and not bomb a single one?"

Kakashi began to feel uneasy and tried quickly to attack her, but he was too lately. "_Kumorigan"_ His eyes widened when he saw that her eyes changed again. It was her kekkei genkai…one he had never seen before. To his luck he was close enough to land another attack before she did anything, but she was also very quick and dodged his attack and fleeing so there was a greater distance between them. She held out her hands towards them. _"Chakra Nagare_." She whispered and in the matter of ten or fifteen seconds large explosions erupted from behind Kakashi. He whirled around to see five explosions in the distance. Their colors were a mix of red and yellow hues and gray-black smoke began to spiral throughout the blue sky.

Nyoko grinned. "Do you like it? Isn't it beautiful? I'm the only person in Sosei capable of such destruction at one time, but I do admit…planting the bombs and tags myself is such a drag and a hassle." She giggled when Kakashi said nothing. "What's this? Cat got your tongue? I bet you didn't expect me to be so powerful, but why else would I be Enmaru's favorite? I'm his most loyal and useful member. I'm the perfect human weapon!"

The person Kakashi remembered travelling with was no more. Nyoko was in full attack mode, blinded by her loyalty to Enmaru. "You may be a weapon…but you're still human. I'm going to arrest you."

"Arrest me? Don't make me laugh." Nyoko snarled. "I'll easily be classified as an S-ranked criminal and sent to death. This battle here…it'll end with your death or mine. You have no choice but to fight me for your life Stranger."

"What is this going to accomplish Akari…I mean…Nyoko?" Kakashi finally shouted. He couldn't understand it. Couldn't she see that what she was doing was wrong? "Is this what you want? Do you know how many innocent people, innocent children, that will die because of your decisions?" He was hoping that by adding children to the situation would change her heart.

"When it comes to Enmaru-sama's decisions…" Nyoko started slowly. "Nobody else matters." Her eyes stared straight through his holes of his mask and straight into his eyes. "Not…even…you." She held out a hand again and muttered. _"Hi no Seirei" _Her hand caught on fire and again she muttered. "_Chakra Nagare"_ The fire extended from her hands in violent streams towards Kakashi. He evaded them and decided now would be a good time to activate the sharingan. He sent similar streams of fire right back at her, causing her to frown. "So you're the "copy-cat" ninja as well? My oh my, Stranger…I feel you know more about me than I do about you. Don't you think that's unfair?"

"Please, just surrender Nyoko. We don't need to fight…"

"What kind of ANBU are you!" She screamed, alarming him slightly. "Just fight me and kill me? Wasn't that what you were told! You foolish…you…"

"You can't pretend the time we spent travelling together didn't happen!" He shouted back.

Nyoko was silent for a moment before speaking. She had to keep her cool…she couldn't let him break her. "If I can't pretend, then I'll force myself to forget. I suggest you do the same, because these last few days meant nothing. Don't you see!" Her voice slowly began to escalate as she continued speaking. "We're on two different sides. Nothing is going to change that. Nothing."

"But don't you want something to change?"

She gave him an odd sort of look, before smiling. "Forget what I said before. We are both young and foolish. We are both elite ninja who rank highly in our respective loyalties. We need to cast feelings of the past aside in order to move forward. Don't you agree, Stranger?" Nyoko could feel her emotions lowering to a calmer level. It was time to end this foolishness. Enmaru-sama was the only person that mattered, because he was her savior.

Kakashi exploded forward, attacking Nyoko with his kunai at a close range. He didn't want things to come down to this, but Nyoko had made her choice. If he was able to injure her enough, then maybe he could take her back to Konoha and then…what? What would he do with her then? She was right…she had no place in Konoha or anywhere. She would be considered a criminal…unless he lied about her to his superiors, the elders, the hokage…who was he kidding? He couldn't lie about her true identity. Kakashi gritted his teeth, as Nyoko continued blocking and countering his attacks. Was there really no other way?

A yelp caused Kakashi to snap out of his thoughts. He had successfully stabbed Nyoko in the stomach and his eyes grew wide, and then realized she must not have been adept in close-ranged combat because of the long-range techniques she tended to use. Of course, the new wound to her stomach didn't stop her from fighting. Bringing her leg up, she unexpectedly kicked Kakashi away and shot streams of fire at him again. Once the fire dispersed Kakashi saw her crawling away…towards the edge of the cliff.

"Stop! Nyoko!" He was by her side in an instant and was taken aback by the smile on her face.

"_Chakra nagare."_

Kakashi's eyes widened as another explosion rang throughout his ears. His stomach dropped as he felt himself falling along with the ground beneath him. He looked up and somehow managed to grab onto the side of the cliff among the falling rubble. His other hand barely managed to catch onto Nyoko's beneath him. The last of the rocks and earth fell to the watery, rocky depths below. Kakashi could tell that the rock he held onto wasn't very stable and could break off the cliff at any moment. Was there any way to get out of this situation?

"Do you know how much I hate you?" Nyoko sighed. Kakashi looked down at her to see that now her forehead was bloody, probably from being hit by one of the falling debris in the explosion she just caused. "I should have injured your arms so that you would have no way to grab onto the cliff."

"Are you crazy? If I didn't have my arms, you would have died from the fall into the ocean, especially with an injury like that."

Nyoko seemed unfazed. "You think I didn't know that? If I couldn't complete the mission that Enmaru gave me, then killing you would have been the next best thing."

"Will you shut up about Enmaru? He doesn't rule over your life, just how the ANBU doesn't necessarily rule over mine. You can make your own decisions." She said nothing and closed her eyes. "Shit, Nyoko." Kakashi tried to shake her a bit. "Wake up…stay with me…Nyoko…"

"Kuwa-senpai! Kuwa-senpai!"

Those shouts…Kakashi recognized it to be Tenzo. How on Earth did he find him? "Tenzo! Tenzo!" Kakashi shouted back. He couldn't believe his luck. Although he was slightly embarrassed by it, Tenzo would definitely be able to help him and Nyoko out of this situation, but a sigh from below him caught his attention.

"I guess this is it." With her free hand Nyoko took out her last kunai and stabbed Kakashi's hand. He yelled at the sudden pain. "Goodbye, Masked Stranger."

This was her third and final farewell.

Kakashi hung on the side of the cliff in shock. A part of him had no idea what to do as he watched Nyoko fall silently into the crashing waves below and another part of him wanted to let go of the cliff to go after her. His free hand was still outstretched, as though it could still catch her from the fall.

"Kuwa-senpai!" Tenzo's shout snapped Kakashi back into focus and he saw a piece of wood in front of him. "Grab on to it."

Kakashi grunted. "I can't, my hand is wounded."

"Alright, hold on."

The wood began to move on its own, snaking its way around Kakashi's waist. Slowly he felt himself being pulled up, but his eyes were still focused below him, until he was back on solid ground. "Kuwa-senpai. We need to hurry back to Konoha. Captain sent me to get you. What are you doing at a time like this?" When Tenzo's question wasn't answered, Tenzo continued anyways. "We've evacuated all the civlians and we have forces surrounding Konoha in a 500 yard radius surrounding the village."

"Hurry back alone Tenzo. I need to take a breather." Kakashi said, without looking at his junior.

Tenzo nodded and began running back to Konoha. Kakashi proceeded to lay down on his back, breathing in and out slowly. He couldn't help but feel like he had failed. He felt like he couldn't save her, but everything that happened…it was her fault wasn't it?

She chose to die.

This wasn't his fault.

This wasn't his fault.


End file.
